> Right. I want to learn more about the why the U.S. has been involved in the > middle east, at great expense of lives, money and political fall-out all > these years. Has it really been primarily to protect Europe's access to the > oil and shelter Israel? About supporting regimes in the past that are now > enemies - lots of people in Europe and around the world supported Hitler, > too, or looked the other way in the beginning, until they saw the light. > Kakki
I think initially it was because the USSR was supporting militarily the arab regimes (Syria, Egypt, Palestinians' Fatah, Lybia, etc). Later on the US became a whore and gave money to both sides, just as corporations finance both presidential candidates' campaign. One thing I'm sure of: notwithstanding all the good talk, it's all about power and money, they don't give a s..t about Europe nor Israel nor anybody else. Another thing that is clear when you look at the tens of millions of displaced persons in the 20th century (my family included) that all became citizens of their host country: The only reason why a few hundred thousands Palestinians refugees were never integrated by their arab brothers was to keep the fire alive so the superpowers would be needed to supply weapons. (I'll give you an example: from 1948 to 1967, while Gaza was under Egyptian rule, Palestinians lived in tents, for 19 years! After 67 the Israelis built hard houses). Anyway, just follow the old principle: show me your weapons and I'll tell you who backs you up. Perhaps one area to look at for a possible comprehensive explanation is the relationship between the weapons industry and the government. Laurent
